Call me crazy, but I have a tough time believing any claims made by a man who publicly choked his wife -- which is why I'm rolling my eyes, big time, at the latest allegations against star chef and all-around awesome lady Nigella Lawson. Not that Lawson's psychopath ex-husband/gazillionaire Charles Saatchiwas the one to make the original allegations this time, but he did say he believed them -- and the actual accusers are equally less-than-credible sources. Here's the deal: Lawson and Saatchi's former personal assistants, Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo, are being charged with fraud for allegedly "misappropriating" over $480,000 of Saatchi’s money and spending it on super-luxe vacations, clothes and more. But guess what? They've got a perfectly "reasonable" explanation (of course).

The sisters say they had a greenlight to use the funds, that they had an “understanding” with Lawson: As long as they promised to keep quiet about her supposedly wild daily drug binges, they would have access to Saatchi's credit cards to use for whatever they wanted, pretty much. Or, as the defense attorney put it:

“The defendants will maintain that they were fully aware of her illicit drug use and she essentially would consent to their expenditure on the understanding that there would be no disclosure to her husband of her usage."

Hmm. Seems like an awfully convenient excuse for two gals facing jail time, doesn't it? Especially considering the fact that they must have known Saatchi would be thrilled to back up their most likely slanderous story. Indeed, an excerpt from an email sent to Lawson from Saatchi on the subject reads:

“Now the Grillos will get off on the basis that you were off your head on drugs and you allowed the sisters to spend whatever they liked, and yes, I believe every word the Grillos said,”

Whatever, chokes-his-wife guy. Anyway. Now there are rumors going around that ABC might NOT invite Lawson back for a 3rd season as a judge on cooking competition reality show The Taste. Seriously?! They're gonna sack Nigella over allegations made by two women who are trying to avoid a heavy jail sentence and one deranged ex-husband??

Check out this clip of Nigella being awesome and tell me ...

Do you think the claims of drug abuse made against Nigella Lawson are true?